There was a note in the beginning of the text saying the transcription was below, but it may have been easy to miss, so I have edited the post for clarity. Thank you for letting me know.

The images don’t show up at an angle for me and no one else has mentioned it, so I’m not sure what’s going on there.

Thank you. I appreciate the politeness.

Yeah, it feels strange to say something like “I have a habit of locking my door when I come inside, I don’t even think about it, it is totally automatic for me” and then say “I don’t have a habit of going to the gym because I have to consciously make effort to do it.” Like yeah, no shit going to the gym “takes effort” that locking a door doesn’t. That doesn’t make one a habit and not a habit.

There seems to be two usages of habit going on and they’re being conflated. Something as big as exercising cannot become so automatic that you do it without thinking. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a “habit.” Things as easy as buckling a seatbelt or locking a door can become automatic and thoughtless but that isn’t the aspect that makes them habits.

I find it hard to make these criticisms because I don’t want to sound like I’m saying “just get over it” for dealing with ADHD. I have it too. There are tons of things that I’m jealous of neurotypical folks of for being able to do easily. I get the feeling of this post but I can’t help but feel that they have totally misunderstood what people mean by habits. I also still feel like developing good habits might be easier for neurotypical folks, but the idea that they just do something as complex and involved as exercising totally on autopilot rather than deciding to go do it is off. It’s easy to get into this self defeating mindset with ADHD of feeling like you can’t do something. I don’t want people to fall into that trap just because they misunderstand what people mean by the word habit.

I have entirely forgotten glasses of water and plates of food for 6+ hours at a time that are directly next to me. The struggle is real.

Don’t because this whole thing is fucking stupid. Everyone has to stop and think about brushing teeth. There is no autopilot mode that lets people take care of simple tasks without even thinking about it.

If you’re finding it difficult to brush your teeth, you’re probably depressed, not necessarily ADHD.

And at the same time think about that time someone was mean to you 8 years ago

I so relate to this. I listen to audiobooks or podcasts all the time because it keeps my brain partially occupied. Forgetting to take meds is a huge issue for me. I’m asthmatic and need to take an inhaler twice a day. I’ve been using an inhaler for 35 years and I still can’t remember regulary. I’m broken.

I did neurofeedback training a while back in order to hopefully do something about being an inattentive scatterbrain. They did a brain map, and even though I was expecting “forgetfullness” on the results, my anxiety was registered as through the roof, which was not at all something I expected or felt was a problem for me.

My doctor asked me a few questions, and it turns out that constantly running multi-tiered to-do lists through you head as you do other daily activities - like problem-solving at work and holding conversations - in order to remember everything you need to do is not, in fact, normal behavior.

If you think that growing your hair is a “habit”, you’re in for a huuuge set of revelations, son. To say nothing of your flippant disregard for a headspace you clearly have no point of reference for, thus leaving you to perpetuate the the patroniziing dismissal of the struggle.

Do better. Take your own advice. Sit in silence and listen to the minds that actually know wtf they’re taking about. 😬

Fuck indeed.

I love (/s) how I can develop a very good routine and then a month later I just kind of…forget? Like it’s gone. Even with fun stuff. I played this online card game every day for a month and a few months later I saw the link on my computer and I was in shock. I had forgotten all about it.

I found a little bit. I found some papers and articles saying the striatum is different in both autistic and ADHD people. And I also found that the striatum is thought to be the part of the brain responsible for habit formation.

I didn’t keep a list of links but if you search up those topics you’ll see for yourself.

Your doctor diagnosed you. No further testing needed IMHO, because you aren’t being different for “cool points”. Let the treatment begin.

Then um let’s see I’ve been taking the same medication at the same time for over 15 years now and I still need an alarm on my phone and I have still forgotten to take it if I don’t take it that very second.

Like looking in a goddamn mirror. Yeah, if I don’t do it THAT VERY SECOND, the alarm was worthless. I bought these because I can’t remember even an hour later if I took my pill or not. I also have to do it that very second or it’s worthless.

Edit to add: the old person pill case is a better product than the switch thing I posted. I’ve used both and I’m going back to the pill case.

I’m AuDHD. I need my keys and things in the same spot, but I also struggle to remember to actually put them there. That’s the missing part of the habit for me. I have to consciously think “put them here” every time or future me will have a meltdown when they can’t find what should be there.

I do not have a proper autism diagnosis as I stopped after the initial screening (I am suspected to be though), but my existence is held together by habits.

Some of these habits are pure preference, such as the first tea I drink in a day will have some honey added to it. Other habits I have conditioned myself into doing to the point where it feels wrong not to do them, such as scooping the litterbox every day. I also do the thing where everything has a fixed spot or order, and I even have a checklist in the morning to see that I have gathered and done everything I need to leave for work.

The real challenge is making a difficult habit stick, or when something about my day changes. For example, in the morning on weekdays I brush my teeth as it is part of getting ready for work, but on weekends it’s not in the order of things that I execute so it gets forgotten about. I might remember and then do it, or I might not. I will however always still brush them in the evening because it’s in my evening routine. The difference here is that it is ok to maybe not do it then, but if I arrived at work with unbrushed teeth I’d be mortified and stressing all day…

The “don’t break the chain” method is good for difficult habits but I need to use something like a todo list to keep reminding me. I also struggled with tasks like doing the dishes for years because I absolutely hated the task. It’s only after consistently doing them every time that eventually it got to a turning point where I was excited to get those stupid dishes over with so I could feel good about having it done. However despite that some things just never stick. Or I will not start them. Exercise for example.

My partner has remarked it is a bit peculiar I do things always the same, but he has seen the advantage in that I am always prepared for everything. However while he can brush off having forgotten something, it can impact me greatly. It’s been suggested to me I should get ADHD screening (and finish the autism one) because I do am distracted, I can start a routine task and never finish it because I got sidetracked and it somehow auto-completed in my brain. But at the same time I think I very much use habits and routines to deal with the fact that it keeps anxiety under control for me. Control as a whole makes me feel safe. But it does come at a cost. Not everyone likes how I am, which is fair, because it can overflow from me wanting to control my own stuff to me demanding control over others.

Nuh uh. You’re just quirky. /s

I think everybody’s different. I am autistic but don’t have ADHD. Showering is not a habit, but I have partially managed to turn brushing my teeth into one. I know that for some people, brushing teeth happens without much thought— as long as it’s part of an ordered routine, I think.

Yeah. The neurodivergent typically think that living like a robot is the solution to their problems. Everything needs to be in its place, or everything is wrong.